Paradox, Part Two
by DizzyTech
Summary: Events in time are more intertwined than you think. Just because Kevin 11 escapes, doesn't mean he has to destroy everything, right? Part Two: Ben gets killed, and another Ben goes on with his normal life... for a short time. No ending, ever. Sorry.
1. Wood Shavings and Similar Dust

**Paradox**

Chapter One: Wood Shavings and Similar Dust

---------------------------

_**Well, Paradox is back! I've split the storyline of Pardox into two separate stories. They both occur at the same time, but are better organized. The stories will eventually have a be-all, end-all sequel ending the storyline. I hope these stories are less confusing. And, if you're reading both stories, you will notice that this chapter is shared between the two. This is the only chapter which will do so.**_

_**As an extra note, I was going to post more tonight, but I have to go to sleep.**_

---------------------------_**  
**_

The door shook almost angrily as it was trying to be opened. The door resisted heavily; its opener realized he should have replaced it back at the beginning of the summer.

Growling in futility, the aging man gave up and walked around the side of the house. He walked up his porch, pried open the swing door, and tried the back door.

The other door opened easy with the click and turn of the key. The door swung inward, and outward rushed a powerful odor of dust and a rush of heat. Trudging up the stairs, he walked into his lonely bedroom, changed his clothes, and flopped down on his king size bed and immediately fell asleep.

These actions were likely planned. As it was, the front door wasn't stuck shut by old age and swelling of the weather, as the old man thought, but rather by a sticky substance with similar properties to super glue and cement. If it had opened as normal, the man might have passed by the kitchen. He then could have possibly decided to hang up his keys. Without a doubt, he then would have passed by his phone, therein changing the majority of this story's outcome.

The small, sleek answering machine next to the phone blinked with a red light, signaling a message received during the long months the home's occupant was gone.

The phone rang. The ring was very low, almost silent, so not even a stealthy night prowler could hear it. After a few sets of rings, the answering machine picked up. A strong voice filled with a slight bit of boredom spoke.

"Hello. You have reached Maxwell Tennyson. I'm sorry, but I can't get to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the tone and I will get back to you as soon as possible."

Background noise rustled in the message for a few seconds, and then the voice switched to a woman's robotic one. "Please note that…" and, switching to the previous voice with a loud rustle, "…Maxwell Tennyson…", and, switching back again, "… has currently set a long-term away notice. Understand that your message may not be received for a while. Please consider reaching this person via another number."

All was stopped by a high pitched beep. Another voice came out this time.

"Max, please pick up. I know you're there. Stop being paranoid about spies and bugs, just listen. You need to bring in the Null Void Projector." It pronounced the name of the device slowly and surely, so as to not make a mistake. The voice turned desperate. "We've been detecting space anomalies all across the board, and I think our fr… somebody… might starting to notice. Call me back, now. Max. Call me. Don't make me call again."

As an after note, the robotic voice appended to the end of the message: "Twenty-three unheard messages. First unheard message sent… two weeks, one day ago… at 8:12 PM…"

---------------------------

The sunlight pressed into the clean, shiny window as if it had a special purpose. An annoying grinding bounced off of the walls and a clatter of wood against wood added to the din. Looks of pure melancholy echoed across some of the children's faces. The whining of a liquid crystal projector blended with the occasional default mail arrival sound of an all-too expensive computer system, breaking into the bright orange screen with a dialog box. "Welcome," the beam of light played onto a screen. It all seemed so warm and fuzzy. Classical music played lightly in the background.

The children were all subdued, not really upset, just bored. Except for one of them. He hated all of it. He hated school. He wanted his summer back. If he had a fighting chance, he would have battled his way off of the sun-yellow transport vehicle earlier that morning. However, it was all hopeless. He had pushed on, reacquainting himself with some familiar faces and greeting them with a joyful smirk.

His friends hardly recognized him as he sauntered through the murderously white hallways. The boy had grown an inch or two, adding some muscle along the way. This surprised his comrades the most, thinking back. Their friend was never really sporty person – energetic and athletic, certainly, but he wasn't like the bulk of boys in the school – dreaming fantastically that their future will be a sporting dream, ignoring all chances of any other possibilities – you know the type – he was more of a skateboarding, biking type. More of the recreational sporting type, he was – not a baby jock. Enough of that, though...

The boy also seemed to be more confident, even though it was masked by his absolute hatred of the school. What few of them noticed, though, was the most significant change. It sat on the boy's left wrist, black and green in color. In shape and size, it looked no different than a generic sport-brand digital watch available from the crappy jewelry section of your multi-purpose mega store. But it was more than that. Oh, god... much, much more.

Ben Tennyson thought, for the millionth time, of his ride back home the week before. It began replaying in his head like a tape recording, as he twiddled a faded orange pencil between his thumb and forefinger, balancing the back two legs of the chair as he pushed himself up on it with his right hand. This had all just started when a deep voice echoed around the room. At the front of the large class was a man, who Ben assumed was his teacher. He had a broad build, and stood tall. The man wore an old, faded jacket that seemed to still gleam with newness. His hair was graying and his work thick glasses. The man's voice was energetic and smooth. "As the projector says, I would like to welcome you all to the fifth grade. Now, just to start, I want to go around the room, and begin, with your name and what you did this summer!"

The first person forced to answer was a girl, who quickly and quietly stood up, whispered her answer mouse-like, and sat down. The teacher droned, "Brilliant!" and moved on.

"…This is going to be a long year…" Ben thought while moaning quietly so nobody could hear it.

---------------------------

The interior of the building was beautifully chrome. Lights reflected on the walls every other foot. The shape of the room was generally that of a light bulb; round and even, with a rectangular box towards the front. This place, once referred to enthusiastically as a 'headquarters,' was bathed in colorless, shining light.

The slight hiss of a hydraulic door sounded, complemented by the heavy thump of a boot.

The tall man's broad shoulders and heavyset form continued to walk around the exterior of the room. At one point he suddenly stopped, almost tripping, in front of a steaming cup of coffee floating an inch in front of his face. It floated in front of and passed him. This startling appearance caused him to turn to his right, toward the direction of the hovering beverage.

Raising an eyebrow expectantly and rubbing his bearded chin, the man looked onward, and then spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

A face, softly etched with well-shaped features, turned up towards him, a surprised look spread across it.

The man's bearded face scrunched up in a confused look and urged the woman to continue with his eyes.

Her eyes, a deep green, were half-closed depressingly. She began to speak, half groaning.

"We've got a problem."

The man's eyebrows rose apprehensively. He grabbed something minuscule from his right pocket, tapped a button on it, and spoke clearly. "Hey, Cooper, we still got problems down in Australia?"

A voice crackled back. "Naw, man. You need to do something?"

"Yeah. I'm worried about something."

He walked over to the side of the large computer terminal and gripped the corner of it with two hands. "What's up?"

---------------------------

The large behemoth sat on the floor, staring at the wall of the padded room. He was thinking. He had to do this; he had to get it right. He needed to get out. He ran over the plan once more in his mind. If everything went right, he'd be safe. At least, he hoped.

A door in the wall, which has pretty much not been there a minute ago, hissed open. A man in blue walked in carrying a tray of food.

He was going to do this, he had been waiting for months.

As the man put down the food in front of him, he started to turn and walk away. He would suspect nothing; the monster was immobilized. At least, he was disabled from using his powers. In theory.

Kevin suddenly grinned. He squeezed his hands to his fist and unleashed a blue stream of energy. It crackled and exploded, fizzled and zapped. The man had no chance against the wrath of stored static electricity. Cuff links strapped to the monster shot across the room and rocketed around the walls once or twice before landing on the floor with a clank.

And with that, he was free. But he had one thing to do first. His eyes blinked sideways and a greasy sprig of hair hang down in his face as he put the hand on the man's back. Kevin needed something from the man. This time, an orange glow shot into the man's body, pulling back into the beast. Yellow light spread through the cracks and fissures on his arm that looked like rock; a green glow emitted from his torso.

Moments later he was finished. That was all he needed; just the basics. He closed his fists once more, but touched nothing. This time, a red spark appeared at his tiptoes - pardon me, claws. It slowly moved up the behemoth's ankles, transforming as they went. Instead of thick, hardened slabs appeared naked human feet. His legs turned back from tree trunks to pencils, replacing the same shorts that had graced that human body months ago. The striped black and blue tail disappeared, and his chest shrunk down to size.

A human being - black hair and all - stepped over the carcass and out the door. He closed the door, which sealed automatically. _Time to have some fun._ He turned to the right and located a red button protruding from the wall. Kevin smashed it with his fist, and red panels of light turned on above.

_Now, the real escape._

---------------------------

Ben fiddled with the pencil between his fingers as he half-listened to his new teacher. "Okay, now, class! Right about now, we'll be going to lunch, so just put down your pencils and slowly walk out of the…"

Ben was already gone, barely hearing the incredulous cries of, "Mr. Tennyson?!"

He sat down for lunch minutes later, joyously talking to his friends. He actively participated in the conversation. Soon enough, the speaking time pointed to him. "So, dude, what did you do this summer?"

"Oh, well, I went on a cross-country trip…"

His friends laughed in response. "What, with your grandpa?"

Ben grinned sheepishly, "Well, yeah..."

"... and that freakazoid cousin of yours?" The ten-year-old laughed in response. His friends generally accepted that and continued on.

A friend named Alex asked, "So, Ben, did you get that new Sumo Slammers game?"

The boy he addressed grinned mischievously, reflecting upon how he got the aforementioned video game. "Of course! What else would…?"

He was interrupted again by a loud crash coming into their hearing range. The smell of smoke drifted into the air. The cafeteria fell instantly into silence. A television in the corner of the room flashed red, with the word ALERT drawn out across the screen. A monotone alarm rang on and off repeatedly.

"Children, out through here! Now!" A teacher had ran to the door leading outside and opened it. Teachers began rushing students out. Screams echoed through the air. Everybody ran immediately out except Ben, who recognized the clatter without knowing it. One of his friends noticed, and shouted, "Ben, come on, what are you waiting for?!" "Just wait a second, go ahead!" he responded.

"Benjamin Tennyson, get through this door **NOW**!" His stunned teacher began shouting.

His friend shouted, "Dude, come on, get out!"

Ben pouted and pointed a finger back at the two men. He cocked his head towards the chrome double-doors to signal his listening to the noises. A grim cackling sounded from the direction of the upper-level hallway. The fire alarm continued to ring with a dull, repeating twitter from the public announcement system.

"I know who it is!" he shouted, and began to run down the hall. The men behind him began to move out the door, but galloped after Ben instead.

---------------------------

_10 Minutes Earlier_

Gwen frowned uneasily as she passed the manila folder across the marble desk to the wrinkled woman confusedly fiddling with a workstation. The snorted in anger as she probably did something wrong. The young girl smirked, making the old secretary looked up. "Excuse me, miss?" The woman began to cough. "Oh… um… just commenting on these _great_ new computers…okay then…err…click here…okay, Gwendolyn, you're in all of your classes now."

She smiled happily and said, "Thanks, Mrs. Appletree!"

As she turned around, the elderly woman rolled her eyes boredly and spat, "Have a nice year, now."

A loud explosion was heard as the child began to walk out of the carpeted office. Smoke floated into view from the hallway in front of her as she saw a flash of red and orange. Gwen dropped the bright blue messenger bag in her hand onto the floor and dashed out onto the glossy tiling.

She hardly listened as a dry voice shouted behind her, "Mrs. Tennyson! Mrs. Tennyson! Gwendolyn!"

A scared look was wiped upon her face as children flooded into the halls behind her.

That's when she met up with Ben at the epicenter of the school.

"What are you doing here?"

She couldn't help but smile at that. "Don't worry about that. What's going on?"

A rumbling sound slowly approached as the cinder-block wall in front of them outwardly exploded. The dust cleared and revealed their worst enemy.

---------------------------

"No… no way! That couldn't happen!" His brow was deeply furrowed as he rubbed his hands together nervously.

He continued to stare uneasily at the screen as the woman next to him frowned sadly, and returned her look to the screen.

"It will. Do you need me to show it to you again?"

The man closed his eyes out of pain. "No… I couldn't possibly take that for much longer." He paused for a moment and sighed, reopening his eyes. "Could this… really happen?"

The woman's orange hair danced in her eyes as she responded. "Yes… and someone's doing it as we speak."

The man's voice grew suddenly deeper and more serious, regaining the tone somewhat recently lost. "There are six of them mainline… do we have any allies in any of them?"

His partner responded without hesitation. "In half of them. Quite a few in those, in fact. And you'll never believe who it is…" And with that, she waved her finger, and a picture floated onto the glowing screen.

The man suddenly lost his solid look and grinned, almost laughing. "You're kidding, right?"

After looking at him for a second, the woman sweetly replied, "Would you like to see you instead?"

"No… I don't think I do…"

Ignoring his response, the woman confusedly glanced at the man across from her for a moment, and then spoke oddly.

"Wait a sec… Ben, have you always had black hair?"

Forming the start of an incredulous "What?!" in his mouth, the man ran a hand through the hair on his head, and rubbed his shaved chin. As he looked back at her, his eyes widened in realization. The form of his moth changed to form one simple word:

"No!"


	2. Not So Good Morning

**Paradox Part Two**

Chapter Two: Not-So-Good Morning

---------------------------

"Let's just take care of this now," a sarcastic, young voice spat.

The teacher and student looked suspiciously at each other. The scene that appeared as the walked through the dust confused the two.

A rough triangle split the three groups in the hallway.

At one point, Ben stood with a grim frown on his face and his left hand resting on his right wrist. Gwen stood next to him, crouching in a fighting stance.

The two confused normal people (the best way to put it, I guess) obviously stood at another.

And, at the top was the most confusing of them all: a pale boy growling at the two. He stood strong with his arms held out to his sides. A blue ring of what looked like electricity floated around his thumb and forefingers. To the teacher, he looked as if he should be in about the seventh, maybe eighth, grade, and appeared, aw, I'll say it... "emo", complete with ripped shirt and pants, with stringy black hair. A demonic grin spread across his face.

"How do you think you'll beat me, squirt?"

Ben shouted, "Like this!" Gwen twisted her head over to the direction of two onlookers, shouting, "Wait, Ben, no!"

He hardly noticed her as he slapped the green face on what the two intruders thought was his wristwatch.

A green haze filled the hall that had just begun to clear from cement dust. Two noises commenced at once: one like that of a heavily-sprung trampoline, and another, like a surge of electricity. The haze cleared, quicker this time, to reveal two completely different figures than before: one, in Ben's place, was an anthropomorphic being that radiated heat. The other new person was much larger. In fact, he was a large, crimson man with an extra set of limbs.

The two onlookers, surprised to find that they were huddled against the wall, were in a shocked trance. However, any further quiet lasted less than three seconds as a fight broke loose.

Punches rained at the heat monster while spurts of flame shot across the room.

"You... can't… beat… me…twerp!"

Shouts came out between throwing punches and blasting whatever odd element they came equipped with at each other.

"Oh… yes… I… can!" A stream of molten rock flew across the tiled intersection, now thickly coated with crushed mortar and dust.

Kevin's fist flew across the way, landing in Ben's shoulder with a thwock. "I'd… like… to… see… you… try!"

A flash filled the room and a heavy buzzing, like a large bee or fly, entered as well. Some poisonous acid shot out as well as his opponent tried to shield his head.

"New… juice… I've… been…working…up… how… do… you…like it?"

"Not…wheeze…much!" Ben threw a punch or two in between gasps for breath. "How… did… you… get… back… to… yourself… again?" The deep voice of the creature echoed off the painted cinder blocks of the wall.

A squeaky, slightly annoying voice of the insect replied. "Who knows? Maybe somebody thought I had had enough time…" The voice stopped momentarily as another sound of surging electricity released into the air. A deeper, stronger voice spoke up again; however, it was oddly distant and echoed. "…in…hell, Tennyson. Who cares? I'm here now, aren't I? Powers and all, thanks to you!"

Ben noticed that the attacks stopped and slowly pulled down the arms of rock too his sides. "Jeez, when will you get over that!?"

His response came quick, without hesitation. "Never, whelp! Not until you're long gone!"

An uneasy grimace spread across the man of flame's face. "Any alternatives… heh, heh... buddy?"

A flash sounded again and a near-exact replica of Ben appeared; this one was slightly taller and a taller plume of flame rose out of his head. His voice was filled with dry sarcasm. "That, or I get the watch!"

Ben uneasily continued. "I'll take choice number two…"

Kevin grinned. "It's not that easy. I decide…" He shoved a flaming forefinger into his cringing counterpart's face. "…and I say choice number one."

A flash filled the room still again as the fiery creature was replace with a creature of diamond. His incarnation was slightly taller, and larger pillars of diamond went out his back.

Fate decided to intervene; a red panel on the Pyronite's chest glowed scarlet, moments before returning the strong creature to the weak ten-year-old hidden underneath.

"Couldn't have timed it better myself."

Gwen, who was seeing to the cuts and bruises the teacher and student received when they were attacked, spun around at the last second to see Kevin shove his diamond-speared arm right into the frozen form of her cousin.

The sound of sharp pincers sliced through the sudden calm.

Sirens blared extremely faintly as Gwen, Ryan, and their teacher sat frozen in their respective positions as Diamondhead-Kevin turned to them. Most of them thought they were next, but he just grinned malevolently, saluted by raising a hand to his forehead, and leaped through the roof of the building, skillfully wielding his diamond as he ascended.

---------------------------

"Get that girl out of here right this moment!"

A woman clothed in a pale blue turned her head towards the orange-haired girl swiftly keeping pace with the moving stretcher. She simply shook her head to say no as they turned a corner and wheeled into a room. The group of people huddled around the bed as they lifted a pasty-skinned boy onto the bed, immediately beginning to hook him up to numerous machines. The annoying throb signifying the boy's pulse came into hearing range as a heart monitor steadily flickered on.

One of the doctors lifted a breathing mask to the boy's face. His chest slowly rose and fell as he struggled to breathe. His shirt was tattered and blood-stained.

One of the men in the group began studying the small form of the boy as one man clothed in white dashed out of the chaos outside the door and studied him as well. His hands caressed small holes across his shirt and, bewildered, said, "What the hell happened here?"

A nurse systematically began reading a chart. "John Doe. Ambulances picked him up at… Madison Elementary. Some kind of code-red attack."

The doctor quickly continued to ask questions while inspecting the body.

"Age?"

"Around ten years old."

"What are these holes from?"

"Some kind of diamond. They acted like bullets, according to a teacher there. Sliced everywhere, bleeding everywhere."

The doctor's next question was cut off by a shout from the corner of the room. "His name is Ben Tennyson."

The white man whipped around to see a young girl around the same age as the victim on the bed in a chair. Her eyes were puffy and red; her hands hugged her sides.

"What is she doing here?"

The nurse continued on after the slight break of silence. "Refused to leave. Says she's related to the boy."

The doctor waved away the girl and continued to concisely talk to the nurse. "Get some blood in here, ASAP. He's not doing well." He looked anxiously toward the heart monitor.

"And call his parents, too."

---------------------------

His blood-stained chest rose slowly, rhythmically, to the annoying pulse of a nearby machine. The room was silent, echoing with the ever so slight din concealed behind the heavy door to the room. Only two people occupied the room at this time. They were cousins, and they happened to be sitting next to each other.

The boy and girl were alone. The boy's face was covered in an oxygen mask. His eyes, half-closed, had a pleading glint in them. He looked up sadly to his girl cousin as she sniffled and began quietly talking to him.

Her eyes were bloodshot, teary, and her nose was red. Her elbows rested on the corner of the soft hospital mattress. "Listen, Ben. I'm sorry. About everything." She sniffled again. "I'll do anything to protect you. No matter what." Ben's mouth opened, as if to say something, but his cousin cut him off. "Don't say anything. I don't think we have any time left. I just want to say this: I will always defend your secret. I'll never tell anybody. That's safe with me, grandpa, and anybody else we've met this summer." She cracked a smile for a single moment.

"Just promise me you'll fight it."

Ben tried to open his mouth again, but only a hot stream of gasped air was released. He thought for a second, and than nodded solemnly.

The hospital clothing hung haphazardly around his shoulders has small spots of blood on it. Gwen glanced to points she recognized from a biology class: one blood stain near the lungs, another near the stomach, and a tiny pinprick in his neck. A somewhat large point spread across his shoulder.

"And just promise me that you know everything will change."

The voice was clear, angry too. Gwen spun around in half a second and watched as Ben sat straight up in his bed, pulling masks and valves and tubes from his form. A smirk was spread across his bruised and cut face. Gwen's face was twisted up in confusion as she watched him slowly get out of bed, his hospital gown shaking with some invisible wind.

His voice became sarcastic. "Why won't you promise?" He pushed a hand out in front of him. A pillar of flame exploded out of his hand. Ben laughed like a manic, and the last thing Gwen did was scream.


	3. Possibly Normal

**Paradox Part Two**

Chapter Three: Possibly Normal

---------------------------

_Another Time Line_

"Personally, Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson, I don't know how this happened either."

The other woman in the room wore a similar look to her son; both of which were crestfallen. The man's was of anger and frustration, as was his voice.

"That's not helping any of us. Explain this again."

The mid-aged woman sitting behind the desk glanced at a computer screen again, and repeated what she said a minute ago after sighing.

"Your son," gesturing to the now-scowling boy sitting in a chair in the corner, "has somehow reached the ten-day limit for absences in his classes, and had been given a grade of failure."

Ben's father spoke again. "We know that much. He was out with a case of the flu. But we turned in doctor's notes for all eleven days; it even said so on his attendance record. He even made up all of his work, though just barely."

The attendance officer behind the desk was clearly getting irritated. A smarmy tone entered her voice. "You've been telling me that, Mr. Tennyson..."

"Carl," he interruped."

"But I have no record for those ten days."

Ben's father did the same. "So, why don't you just call them up and get their records, then?!"

The woman tapped a button with her computer mouse. "According to his permanent record, Ben Tennyson is registered at Bellwood Medical Center, though the hospital has absolutely no record of him."

Ben's mother rubbed her temples. "That isn't possible. He was born there, for god's sake!"

Her husband patted her on her back. She took a breath and tried to calm down.

"There's nothing we can do, ma'am."

Mr. Tennyson ground his teeth, restraining himself from starting to yell. "Okay, so if we can't fix this attendance problem, what are we going to do? Will Ben have to repeat the fourth grade?"

A sudden noise came from the corner of the room. Ben jumped almost two feet, screaming, "No, wait, that isn't fair!"

The adults in the room glanced at Ben for a second, and then the school employee resumed her monologue.

"Fortunately, no. It appears that he was here for half of the day in on the first day of the absences. In other words, he has ten absences in two of his classes, and nine in the other two."

"And that means?"

"To be able to be promoted, your son must attend summer school to receive a passing grade in those two classes."

"But he had straight B's!"

The snooty woman corrected Ben's father. "No, sir, he had two B grades and two failures by attendance."

Ben, still standing, gaped. He shook his head. "No, this isn't fair! I've worked my butt off all year! I get sick, and now I have to have my summer ruined or I have to repeat the fourth grade?"

The attendance officer smirked slightly, acting as if she caught Ben red-handed. "I'm afraid so."

_**Three months later...**_

The sunlight pressed into the clean, clear window as if it had a special purpose. An annoying grinding bounced off of the walls and a clatter of wood against polished wood added to it. Looks of pure melancholy echoed across some of the children's faces. The whining of a liquid crystal projector blended with the occasional default mail arrival sound of an all-too expensive computer system, breaking into the bright orange screen with a dialog box. "Welcome," the beam of light played onto a screen. It all seemed so warm and fuzzy.

Everybody hated it all. Especially one of them. He hated school. It seems like he just got out of school a month before. Honestly, he felt lucky he even made it to the fifth grade. Kicking and screaming would have done nothing to help his way off of the yellow school bus earlier that morning.

He reacquainted himself with friends that had been missing from town during the summer with a smirk, waving lightly to his well-known friends that he had spent the summer with.

"Good morning, students..."

---------------------------

**Original Time Line**

He grinned mischievously. "Of course! What else would…?"

"…I have done this summer?" Ben paused for a second as he looked down at the device on his arm. It was hardly a noticeable gesture.

"Yeah, Ben, sure…"

A whistle blew from seemingly nowhere, and everybody began to stand up from their tables and walk back to class. Ben hung behind for a second, and then continued on.

It wasn't just enough that the first day out of 180 was as boring as watching grass grow, Ben Tennyson discovered how much more boring and strenuous the other 179 would become.

Fifth grade was going to be hellish.

Later that afternoon, Ben flopped down onto his soft bed with a dramatic sigh. At the very least, he thought, I don't have homework on the first day. He stopped himself, though. "I bet we have a project on the second day." He obviously didn't like school all the much. It wasn't just that: he loathed it, especially after his exciting summer. School, for Ben, had become a vicious cycle: he hated school, and it hated him back.

He decided to completely ignore his computer, television, and PlayStation. "I need to get out."

Yet again, his mind swept back to the week before.

They were in the RV as they had been all summer. Gwen was meticulously packing her clothes and other items, throwing all of Ben's stuff into a bag to carry home with his lazy self. Max, of course, was driving, while Ben sat in the passenger seat. Familiar landmarks started to come into view.

Max began to speak. "Ben, I think it's time for us to have a talk."

Ben was already somber and quiet, thinking that he'd have to go back to school in a week. Max was honestly surprised he wasn't kicking and screaming.

"Okay, Grandpa, shoot."

"Alright then. I know you've had a great summer. You've become much stronger." He trailed off into a chuckle as Ben began to flex his muscles.

"Listen, now. Things are going to be different this school year, and we all know it. I want to try to resist going alien every few minutes."

Ben nodded. "Okay."

"I have to stress that this summer was the exception, not the example. You have to understand that this isn't real life. You have to be a kid."

Ben rolled his eyes.

"You also need to make me a promise. I can't believe I'm telling this to my ten-year-old grandson, but at all costs, keep it secret from," and, holding up his fingers to count, "your parents, your teachers, and the government."

Ben began to nod, but stop himself, and said confusedly, "Wait, Grandpa, you didn't say friends!"

Max looked away from driving and half-smiled. "I didn't, did I? I didn't say a lot of people. I must be getting old."

He didn't say anything else about it, but turned around and shouted to the rest of the RV, "Gwen, we're coming up on your neighborhood!"

Ben's face lit up out of its glazed-over confused look, and in a sing-song voice just loud enough for his cousin to hear, he said, "Together, no more! Never again!"

His sung speech was muffled as a pillow hit him over the head. "Hey, doofus, we live across town from one another. We go to the same school. Get over it."

As she pulled the pillow from Ben's face, he rebutted, "I know, I was just counting on you bursting into flames or falling down a well or something."

Gwen took on a baby-talking voice and shook her cousin's head, saying, "Oh, that's so cute, he's using big words now!"

The vehicle began to slow down. Gwen recognized her home outsize. Max flicked a switch on his dashboard and the door unlocked. The door opened, and both of Gwen's parents walked in, sweeping up their daughter into a loving embrace. Her father walked over to Max, asked a few questions, and gave him a handshake and a hug. Making a passive comment, her mother stated, "Wow, smells clean in here. Gwen must have hit all of you with a bottle of cleaner."

Max chuckled. "You have no idea..."

Ben grinned. "Yeah, I was bound, gagged, and sprayed with a hose."

Gwen's father took up on Ben's comment. "So, how was your summer, Ben?"

He shrugged. "Good, very good." Holding up his wrist, he added, "I got a new watch!"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "He's so proud of that thing. It's like its physically attached to his arm. It wouldn't even come off when he took a bath."

Her mother giggled. Everybody started waving at each other, as Gwen and her family began stepping out of the vehicle.

Max smiled. "Have a good school year, now. I'll see you all at Christmas."

Gwen closed the door behind her, and Max turned back on the RV.


	4. Screaming

**Paradox Part Two**

Chapter Four: Screaming

---------------------------

Screaming was just the thing she was doing as she woke up, sitting bolt upright and standing out of the comfy chair in the room. She looked over at the bed, where her cousin was weakly staring at her. She realized, though, that he was simply staring through her. Gwen's eyes teared up again as she comprehended that he was hallucinating in some way. The same blood spots from the dream lay spread across his chest.

The peace was broken as the door was pushed open by three adults. Two of them immediately rushed to the bed as the other rushed to Gwen, all immediately becoming chaotic and loud. Gwen immediately was pulled up into a bear hug, being squeezed to death by her father. He released her from his grip, and held her shoulders with his hands. "Are you okay, Gwen?" he demanded. After the shock of the sudden grasp wore off in a second, she responded, "Yes. Of course, I'm fine." Her response was met simply, "You don't look it."

She didn't, either. She rivaled her cousin in bloodstains and scratches and bruises. Her bloodshot eyes were paired with a red nose and cracked lips. Her voice came out as a weak croak. "Not right now, Dad. I'm not important right now." He solemnly shook his head and swiveled around to face his nephew.

Ben's parents were huddled over him caringly, whispering to him sadly. A doctor walked in from the still-opened door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson," he looked up from the papers he was reading off of, and, pausing for a second, asked, "You are his parents, right?" The man and woman next to the bed nodded and stood up. His father's tall, strong build complemented his mother's agile and thin one.

"Okay, then." His tone became heavily serious. "Um, I don't know what to say. We're running out of options, honestly." He rubbed a finger along his temple. "We don't know what he was shot with here. It's some kind of sharp, diamond-like material. It's punctured a lung, his neck, and his small intestines. Hard, too. They're stuck in there well. There's even a few in his shoulder and spine."

The parents gazed with an odd look upon the doctor's vocabulary, but shook it off as his dashing black hair and perfect smile led them to believe he was a newer doctor.

"This means, though, his breathing capacity is cut by fifty percent. He's having some odd neural problems as our scans show and he's losing a lot of blood."

The parents looked anxiously at each other and than at their child.

"The truth is, we think that the diamond has somehow sliced it so badly that it can't be removed without destroying a lot of things. This prevents us from doing a transfusion. What's also preventing us from any kind of surgery is his blood is that we can't type it – not any kind of positive or negative. He's not even any kind of O, which cause some real problems for us."

"So what do we do?"

"Well, I suggest…"

The doctor was suddenly cut off by a light and sound alert from a few machines to the left of the bed. Everybody's eyes widened as he called in a few nurses, shouting multiple commands. The family moved off to the side as more and more doctors moved in.

The heart monitor continued to beat continuously faster. Lines across the electronic screen were rapidly increasing in intensity. The changes were noticeable in the boy, as well. Breathing suddenly became a struggle, and he clutched at his heart. Ben began to hyperventilate, and his heart rate continued to increase.

Gwen had, at this point, began sobbing, and the rest of the family found it irresistible to join in.

And, suddenly, the worst possible sound that could be heard was heard. The rhythmic beating of the heart monitor had now become an unchanging monotone. It's output became an unmoving line.

His cousin ran up to the bed as doctors were trying to push her back and her family was trying to pull her back. She was becoming hysterical, shrieking odd phrases like, "This isn't supposed to happen!" and "You promised!"

With horribly inconvenient bad timing, Grandpa Max walked in and stood in the doorway.

To Ben, all senses had stopped. He still had a vague detail of sight, although that was fading as well. The world seemed to zoom outward like a camera was viewing the scene from above.

And that's how it ended.

But not just yet.

Through the extreme chaos of the hospital room, the device on Ben Tennyson's arm glowed a vibrant yellow. Its face spun rapidly, creating the noise of a speeding car. Everybody stopped at this odd development, even the hysterical Gwen, to watch what was happening. The face spun faster and faster, until the device itself came off with a sickening pop. Gwen, the only one realizing what was happening, began her shrieking again and the room resumed pace.

And that _is_ how it ended.

------------------------------------

Birds chirped happily, while the sun shined brilliantly. The weather was pleasantly warm. It was a beautiful day in all aspects.

However, the scene was bizarrely solemn. Most of those on the site were silent. It appeared very bleak.

A dry sob could be heard every once in a while of the small groups that milled across the lawn.

I won't sugarcoat it: it was a miserable day. A dark cloud invisible held the collective group of people in its foreboding grip. Yeah, it was that bad.

There was a small tent set up in the center of the roaming group, but only one person was under it. None of the others felt ready to go in yet.

Over to the west of the grassy plain, one man and one woman stood, looking sadly upon the scene.

"Are you sure we really want to be here?"

That was the man. His short black hair spread across his top. His well-shaved face frowned at the dreadfully bleak group.

"Would you rather have it happen to you now?"

"No… but how is being here supposed to stop it?"

The woman, with medium-length red hair, stopped the upcoming string of questions by saying, "Don't know. But we have a part in this somehow, I just know it."

She received a weird look from the man next to her. They both started to walk along the tarmac path, but the man held back for a second. "No. I still don't think we should be here."

The woman looked at her black-dressed relation. "Oh, come on, what could happen?"

The man began counting off on his fingers a few possible events. "I let something slip, we kill somebody else in our history, we see you…"

She stopped his speaking with her hand. "I get it. You don't want to be here. Neither do I personally, but we need to be here."

"Fine, let's just get over it as quickly as possible."

The pair followed the rest of the group, which had begun to line up near the tent, where a group of people the two recognized stood near a casket.

The man began to whisper to the woman frantically, just out of hearing range of the others in front of them. "It's open casket. It's open casket! I can't take this! What if they recognize me? What do we do!"

The woman stopped him yet again. "Calm down, spazzy. It'll be alright. Don't worry."

The man, after long ignoring the woman, looked towards the front of the tent, where people were looking down and back up at the family repeatedly.

"I can see him. I can see him! Oh, that's sick!" The woman looked at him strangely, asking, "What?"

"We're wearing the same suit."


	5. Storytelling

**Paradox Part Two**

Chapter Five: Storytelling

---------------------------

Ben woke up out of his daydream, and thought, "I need to get out." He pulled his new tennis shoes onto his feet and grabbed his wallet and phone and shoved them into his pockets. He dashed down the stairs, taking steps two at a time, and ran past his bewildered mother and out the door, shouting, "Gotta go, see you at dinner!"

Once he got outside, he began looking for a place to hide. Groups of friends, not unlike his own, were dotted down the street. People were out mowing lawns, sprinklers sprayed on almost every other yard. Bikes sped by, clicking with each revolution of the tires. He had already made his decision: he was going to tell somebody his secret. Nearly all of his good friends lived across town in another development. Walking, he thought, that means speed. That means strength. No flight. He narrowed down the choices in his mind. "XLR8, and Wildmutt." He glanced around and chose the small stretch of woods behind his house. He ran while hitting the small button on the fore face of his watch. He doubted that he would get an accurate choice, though he chose XLR8. He was absolutely sure nobody was watching him. Ben dashed into the woods, immediately tripping over brush and branches.

He twisted the face until the silhouette of his desired transformation came into view. Ben dramatically pushed the face down, and the transformation began. He could immediately feel the plastic-like armor of the alien forming across his body. He felt a brief instant of vulnerability as he became momentarily naked as the transformation completed, ending with a mask sliding up mechanically over his lizard-like face.

A green aura dissipated through the trees. Ben took a deep breath and put his wheeled feet to the ground. He leaned down and his claws buried into the pliable dirt, and he pushed himself along to incredible speeds. The world instantly became a blur around him, and an odd prescience led him in the right direction. Ben willed the armor to let his faceplate up, and he took a deep, long breath of the rapidly passing air. The light breeze became a refreshing wind tunnel as XLR8 sped along. Of course, he spun out momentarily as a an unknowing bug flew down his gullet.

Ben decided to drift off and daydream as the city quickly swept by him. I've been doing this a lot lately, he realized. Many thoughts had plagued him ever since his summer trip ended two weeks before. Most of them had to do with his own fate and changes of such. Ben knew him getting the Omnitrix had totally changed his course of life; he realized that. He went from an average student with a likely average life to being a hero. Knowing that gives your mind quite a since of vulnerability to fate.

His mind faded back to the start of the summer. It was the last day of school, exactly 2:15 PM. His teacher had a lackadaisical attitude about most of what went on that day, and he was rearing and ready to go for his summer. He knew that about now his grandfather would be waiting in an RV in the car rider line, ready to take him on the trip of his life. He could clearly remember his own thoughts as he stared at the slowly moving clock. "Come on, come on..." Vivid was the recollection of his teacher speaking, "And I just want to remind you all that I will be teaching summer school this year, and it's not too late to sign up!"

"Yeah, right..."

The wind continuously whipped at Ben's face as he slowed down momentarily to check his surroundings. He honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he ended up in another state, but it looked as if he had made good timing. The half-bustle of main street lay a few miles back, and many of the larger neighborhoods branched off to his left and right.

Ben quickly get his bearings, turned right, and dashed off. He could see one of his friends' houses at the end of a cul-de-sac. He was quickly coming down the road, whipping past children and cars. He had the stance of a skillful skater; Ben pushed his legs and sped faster.

At the climax of his momentum, Ben realized something. How would he slow down in time? And, even better, how would he avoid the fence?

Just as well, Ben began to hear a sound that he dreaded. It was the sound of the powering down Omnitrix. The heads-up display on the faceplate glowed red.

The fence was quickly coming up... coming closer... faster, faster... and he crashed right into it. The wood splintered like paper. As Ben careened into his friend's yard, he realized something else. His friend had a pool.

He felt the instant of change as he was reverted. His momentum immediately stopped, and he began to fall from the small bit of altitude provided by a makeshift ramp of fence wood. Gravity took hold on his now-human form like it was noticing it had made a mistake. Ben immediately began to fall, arms and legs spread in the shape of an 'X'.

Ben fell into the pool at that moment, instantly becoming soaked. The cool water provided a great difference from the humid and muggy air. He decided not to care about his soaked self, and laid back, floating on the chlorinated water. As he stopped bobbing up and down from his own disruption of the water, he saw his friend, clearly amused, hovering over him.

"My parents are gonna kill you when they find you like this."

Ben grinned, and spat out a small bit of water. "Yeah, so? Nobody likes me, Trent."

His buddy rolled his eyes. "Come on inside, man."

Ben agreed. "Alright, dude. I have a story to tell 'ya."

A towel hung from the boy's dripping shoulders as he walked into the neat, organized house. He hadn't even made an attempt at drying himself, he just huddled inside the starched cloth and followed Trent into his room. Ben's comrade pulled a chair out for him to sit down in.

Ben lackadaisically flopped into the rolling desk chair, which hydraulically bowed at his weight. In the process, he sprayed his friend with a small bit of water.

His friend glared for a moment, but brushed it off and laughed. He jumped back on his bed, sighed, and said, "Alright, Ben, whaddaya want?"

Ben smiled, and leaned back in the chair as far as it would go, propping his legs up on the wall and putting his hands behind his head.

"Well..."

---------------------------

It was an hour later. Ben had since shifted around the room; his friend still lay on his bed, staring back at Ben.

At this point, Ben sat next to his friend on the bed. His story was over, after long last.

He told it all: from the first night of his vacation, to the hour and one quarter before where he transformed to get across town.

Trent was speechless, and the storyteller was out of breath. Ben croaked, "So, what do you think? I _really_ don't wanna' talk anymore, dude." He sighed and stared at his friend.

His friend went though a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions in a few seconds. Deciding what to say, he groaned, as if to say, "Do expect me to believe this crap?!" Instead, he said, "Show me."

Breaking his temporary vow of silence, Ben lifted up his arm, where a device lay that glowed green. "I'd be glad to."

Ben pressed a button on what Trent thought was his wristwatch. The face popped up, and a mechanical sound echoed through the roomy bedroom. He twisted it repeatedly.

_Grey Matter? No. Heatblast. Definitely not! Stinkfly? Not in Trent's house… _

And then, he had it. He slammed down the face, and the room erupted in an emerald cloud.

Ben suddenly felt cold, and the feeling of being encased in metal oozed across his body. His whole body became numb, yet he could still feel. Before the cloud could dissipate, he quickly spun around, sensing an enticing energy. He had to get at it, to work with it. Ben reached out an arm, touching what he remembered from the last hour or so as his friend's expensive game console.

Somehow, he could see his friend walk up to his chest of drawers. In a tinny representation of his voice, Ben asked, "Well?"

His friend beamed. "All right. Two down, fourteen to go."

Ben Tennyson, of one reality, laughed.


	6. Acidic Looks and Craning Necks

**Paradox Part Two**

_Chapter Six: Acidic Looks and Craning Necks_

-----------------------------------

The pair was beginning to arrive to the front of the line. The man sighed once again, and whispered for the millionth time, "I can't do this." The woman whipped her head around and started to glare at him. She pulled his head close, and hissed acidly, "Listen, Ben, don't do this. We must be here. You're a superhero. You see much worse than this. Get over it."

He stood bolt upright and nodded towards his cousin. The line moved forward and, without realizing it, they were finally at the front. Ben, the adult, was paralyzed by seeing his dead ten-year-old self. His face turned down into a terrible frown. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. His dead self was only slightly less gruesome than his actual death. Or, I should rather say this: the late Benjamin Tennyson had a horrible frown etched on his face, with his skin a paper white. His eyes were, as the older Ben hoped, eternally shut.

After staring for what seemed like hours, the older Ben Tennyson looked up at something almost as bad, something that he totally forgot about: his family. Every single person he knew for his whole life stood in a semi-circle right after the coffin.

He was stunned by seeing them all at once. Gwen was stopping and talking to each family member, so he resolved to just follow and silently nod, giving a respectful glance at each one. He could not stop himself from crying as he shook the hand of his father and hugged his mother. Neither of them, thankfully, knew who he was, though they both tearfully thanked him.

The olden Ben walked behind Gwen slowly, looking at his multiple aunts and uncles. His maternal grandparents stood in the line as well. However, towards the end, he met something anticipated (though unexpected): the two people he had come to know most throughout his life. That made it hardest of all for him. He saw his cousin and grandfather.

Gwendolyn had also stopped uneasily at this point, and his mindless following of her led him to running into her back. The group of four stared at each other momentarily as, not surprisingly, complete silence ensued.

Ben (for god's sake, you know who I'm talking about at this point) decided to get a blast of courage, and began to shake his grandfather's hand and speak to him as Gwendolyn knelt down to speak to her younger self. Max's grip was firm, and he shook steadily to ease the look of suspicion on his grandfather's face. "Sorry for your loss, sir."

An alternate conversation was going on about two foot away. Gwen began, bewilderedly hissing, "What are you doing here?!" Gwendolyn's face wrapped into a half-smile. "Don't worry about it. I wanted to be here."

"Why?" Gwendolyn sighed before continuing on, assuming she must. "I'm not you. Technically. I'm you, in a different timeline. Something happens today, I just know it. I know this hurts really badly for you right now, but things could get a lot worse for the whole universe." Gwen screwed up her face for a moment, working out the details, after overcoming a huge dose of feeling small. "Okay, I get it. Glad you're here, then. I just have one question." She jerked her thumb in her right direction (unknowingly releasing a small ring of magic around her ), and asked, "Who's he?"

Gwendolyn wondered why she didn't recognize her own cousin, and was tempted to look to her left immediately. The result surprised her: she wasn't looking at the thirty-year-old version of her cousin, at least, not anymore. She uneasily gasped, and whispered, "I'm not really sure."

She added as an afterthought, "Just hang in there." Gwendolyn hugged her younger counterpart, and stood up.

-----------------------------------

"Okay, that was potentially horrifying."

The two sat down in plastic chairs, and ended up more cuddling due to the cramped nature of the rows.

"Get over it… we have other things to worry about."

The man waved his hand in front of his place as if he was blind. "Why? I'm fine, I think."

Pushing his hand back down into his lap, she replied, "Not for long."

She leaned in to talk to him again. People were milling around them, and not listening at all.

"You could, at any moment, change again. Whoever is screwing with the time lines can attack any time, or any where. And you…could be much different next time when that happens."

"Well, who would I be? I look more like..."

Ben suddenly realized exactly what was going on.

"Alright, sorry. I just want to get out of here, it's kind of uncomfortable." He shifted in his seat in a way to signify his feelings.

Everybody began to quiet down as somebody up front began to talk.

"What are they saying?" an annoyed Ben asked a few minutes later as the speech was progressing.

"How should I know? I'm sitting next to you; I hear just about as much." It was clear Gwendolyn was getting irritable as well, even questioning their own purpose at this event. She supposed it was more sentimental for her cousin – you know, being technically dead and everything – so she didn't say anything either.

Ben continued to fidget in his seat acting like he was a ten-year-old at a funeral – which, in a roundabout way, he really was.

"Man, I so hate this."

"Shut up, Ben."

Their conversation had been going on like this for the most part of an hour, as they witnessed (and tried to ignore) more tears and heartfelt remarks from their family members from twenty years past. Ben (the alive adult, if there was any confusion) was continuously getting more fidgety, and Gwendolyn was getting more and more irritated with him.

"Why didn't we bring Grandpa again?"

"Quiet... now!"

"No, I'm serious."

Gwendolyn grumbled a few unspeakable words in frustration, and whispered, "Because, I'm sure his sixty-year-old self would probably not want to see his eighty-year-old self at his grandson's funeral, not to mention his granddaughter and supposedly dead grandson, got it?"

Ben was taken aback by the surprisingly stern remark. "Yeah, sure."

The whole situation was amusing, despite their surroundings, because they were bickering like they were ten again... or thirteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one... you get the point, right?

"I think they're getting ready to bury you."

Ben was immediately stunned. "Huh?"

"I said, 'I think they're getting ready to bury you.'"

"I can't take this. We have to leave, now."

"No Ben, we can't. We can't just walk away in broad daylight."

"Would you rather see me break down?"

"Just shut up, and breathe slowly. You'll get through this."

"Hey, Gwen, have you noticed something?"

"What?"

"I'm not wearing the Omnitrix."


	7. Ouch

**Paradox Part Two**

Chapter Seven: Ouch

-----------------------------------

Another hour had rapidly gone by. Ben was getting anxious, as he knew his mom would kill him. I mean, come on, it was almost six o'clock.

By repeating this to Trent, Ben finally elicited the answer he desired. His buddy said, "Yeah, man, totally. You know how my parents would react if you were here for dinner, anyway."

Ben laughed in response. "You mean the whole attacking me with soap and a scrub-brush? 'Tis alright."

"Good, they still haven't forgiven you for that barbecue sauce stain in their carpet."

Ben began to make out for his friend's bedroom door. "Well, never invite Ben Tennyson over if you're having ribs."

His friend hooted, and Ben walked down the stairs and out the front door. However, before he finished traversing the front walk, Trent came running out after him, shouting his name. "Ben, wait!"

Ben spun around and grunted. "Hm?!"

"How many people have you told?"

Ben thought of how to react, and told the truth: "You're the first, dude."

Trent beamed again. "Sweet. Any reason why?"

Ben snorted. "What can I say? You have a pool." His friend sported a weird look, but then grinned again. "Alright, man, see you later."

Ben closed the wood gate, sealing the fortress that was his buddy's house. He decided not to go alien until he reached the end of the housing development, even though he had a ways to go.

He was definitely glad he told his best friend. Now, who's next? _Nobody,_ he thought. _Not today._

And then he saw her. The most beautiful human being in the whole state. Maybe the whole country. She was smart. She was **blazing** hot. And, most exciting to the guys following her around everywhere, she was athletic. In fact, Ben was shocked to see her alone.

But, back to the girl. I'll simplify it: she could do her homework and yours while putting on makeup and beating your butt at any sport she chose. Like you had a decision in the matter anyway. You were just lucky to be near her. That's how great she was. And her name was Jen. Either Jen or Jennifer, but only Jenny if you want to get punched. And Ben Tennyson was in love with her. Of course, so was every other boy in Bellwood.

And Ben was alone. With _her._In this cul-de-sac. Nobody else. A light breeze flowed through the neighborhood. Ben was shocked again: **the** Jennifer lived in the same cul-de-sac as his friend? No way! Of course, he never asked.

But whatever. This was his chance! He ran through the middle of the road, shouting her name. She turned around and smiled her dazzling smile.

Then, suddenly, her modest grin turned to shock, and fear. She screamed, and pointed in his direction. "Ben!"

Ben only had time to turn his head.

He was then rammed, headfirst, by an SUV. I mean, not just hit,_**slammed.**_ He flew backwards and landed with a sickening thud. The girl screamed, however, Ben was already gone. Not dead, unconscious. But the damage was done.

Ouch.

-----------------------------------

Ben Tennyson, as to be expected, woke up with a throbbing headache. He had slept all night, for that is what the sunlight coming in the room told him. Sunlight, he understood, but from where?

He opened his eyes, expecting to be in a hospital room. But, no, he wasn't. And this was the kicker: he was in his room. _His_ bedroom, in _his_house.

His mom stood over him, smiling faintly. "Wake up, honey Come on."

Ben groaned. "What... happened?"

His mom's smile grew, and she stripped the covers from his bed. Ben curled up, defenseless. "What do you mean? You took a shower, which surprised all of us to be honest, and went to bed. Come on, Ben, wakey, wakey. It's the second day of school."

Her smile became uneasy. "After all, you don't want to have to go to summer school again."

Ben sat bolt upright in his bed. "_Huh?!"_ He instantaneously looked toward his right wrist. No Omnitrix.

_What... the... hell?!_

-----------------------------------

In another reality, Ben woke. He refused to open his eyes, for fear of his mother being there to tell him to get up for school.

He heard people talking, and he recognized some of the voices. Ben instantly became alert, and listened intently.

"Frankly, Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson, you should consider this a miracle. Your son could have been paralyzed, or even killed."

"Then why wasn't he? I mean, we're thankful and all, Doctor, but this doesn't make sense."

The unfamiliar voice laughed. "Honestly, ma'am, we have no idea. Your son came in here looking as if he had broken a couple of bones, and, at worst, his neck or back. All he seems to have here are a couple of nicks and bruises. It's like he's made out of steel, or crystal."

Ben's father laughed in return. "I'm sure. We're just glad he's alive."

"Absolutely. However, I just have one last question to ask."

"Sure."

"Which is your son's dominant hand?"

"His right. Why?"

"Hm. Okay then. Just watch his left arm, then, we had to put his IV in there. There's that watch on his right arm, and we couldn't dislodge it to get at his artery. He should be just fine, but watch him anyway."

"We'll be glad to."

"Of course, Mr. Tennyson. Anyway, I think your boy is well enough to be released. Heck, it's only six in the morning, he could even make it to school by seven thirty."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that."

Ben decided to open his eyes, and, for comedic effect, groaned. "School? Come on!" He blinked his eyes against the bright light.

Minutes later, Ben was fully dressed and walking down the hallway with his parents staying close to him.

Among other confusing things, including _why_ he was at the hospital, Ben decided to check a few off his list.

"Now, what's with this watch?"


End file.
